Editorial: CCW reciprocity a no-brainer

Saturday

Dec 2, 2017 at 5:00 AMDec 2, 2017 at 8:01 AM

Law-abiding gun owners know about fellow gun owners who crossed state lines and unwittingly became criminals for breaking a law they didn’t know existed. A North Carolina resident was arrested for having his firearm while driving to New Jersey to help with Hurricane Sandy. A single mom from Pennsylvania spent years fighting to stay out of prison after driving with her firearm into another state. A man from Tennessee was arrested in Delaware after he was stopped for speeding. The stories are countless.

None of these people purposefully did anything wrong. They simply took to the road, were stopped for a traffic violation, and informed the officer they were carrying.

These are cautionary tales to all of us who practice safe and responsible gun ownership — and who carry concealed. All gun owners live in fear of breaking laws they didn’t know existed, and it’s got to stop. These arrests and prosecutions are a waste of everybody’s time, money and energy.

Congress is finally attempting to do something about it. The National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would ensure that people who can legally carry concealed firearms in their home state also will be able to legally carry in other states. Law enforcement officers should use their time and resources working to keep our streets safe from violence. They should not target law-abiding citizens who simply cross state lines.

This bill matters to Ohio. Currently, many of the state’s 16 representatives have co-sponsored the National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. It’s imperative that more of our state’s representatives in Washington support this bill. I’d personally like to thank Rep. David Joyce of Russell Township, for his support, and I’d like to urge Rep. Pat Tiberi to support it, as well.

This is a fundamental Second Amendment issue. There is no reason a person who is trusted to carry his or her firearm in their home state cannot be trusted to do the same in another state. Crossing a state line does not — all of a sudden — make an otherwise law-abiding person want to commit violent crimes.

On the flip side, threats to your safety can happen anywhere, anytime. An Ohioan can be victimized across state lines just as easily as they can five minutes from home. The law should protect a person’s right to defend his or her own life, not restrict where and how a person can do that.

Confusing and varied laws state-to-state add to this problem. There are more than 500,000 concealed-carry permit holders in Ohio. However, those permits are not recognized in 13 other states, including D.C.

Concealed-carry permit holders are among the most law-abiding people in America. In recent years, America has seen a surge in permit holders, which happened simultaneously to a significant drop in crime. There are more than 16 million Americans who carry concealed. Meanwhile, crime has been cut in half.

Ohioans must let these representatives know how important this bill is. My hope is that every law-abiding gun owner will get involved and contact their representatives.